Neaera-Ours is the Storm review

Two straight metal album reviews.  I know, we don't like metal that much here, but it so happened that three bands we do like released new albums on the same day.  And there is a bunch more metal in the pipeline, though most of it won't be released for a while. 

Today's review is the third most anticipated music release from March 5, 2013: The new album from Germany's Neaera.  Like Soilwork yesterday, Neaera is a band with their own established identity, however much less known than Soilwork.  This band actually plays a somewhat similar style of metal to Soilwork, but nastier and more extreme. 

Neaera's forte is a bruising gallop of chugging riffs, pummelling drums, and guitar leads swirling beneath the surface.  Neaera are certainly masters of crafting songs that make listeners want to throw up their horns and bang their heads.  The riffs and drums are punchy and create an impressive and crunchy groove that makes heads spin.  Bubbling beneath the considerably heavy surface in most songs are snaky guitar leads that lend atmosphere and melody to the meat.  Most bands resort to keyboards to achieve this end, but Neaera is different from the rest.

What sets this band apart is the vocal style.  One second the singer emits throat-shredding shrieks, while the next he bursts forth with impressive belows that fall somewhere below the bass register.  He switches back and forth from these styles effortlessly while also mixing in higher-range old school metal screams.  Very rarely does this band give in to using clean singing, and even when they do, its is more like an Iron Maiden-esque array of falsetto singing.  On "Ours is the Storm" this style of singing appears on just one track. 

From start to finish this is a very heavy record.  There are no interludes or preludes or intros or outros or lead-in tracks or filler material.  Just thirteen pummelling melodeath tracks that are easy to nod your head to.  On this disc, Neaera offer nothing flashy--nothing that calls attention to itself.  Like Soilwork's new album, the band sees little need to bring anything new to the table besides a bunch of killer tracks.  That said, "Ours is the Storm" is a good album, just not a great one.  If you are in the mood for some insane headbanging metal, you can't go wrong here.  Check out a couple of the tracks below.  Enjoy!

Soilwork-The Living Infinte review

If you have been following us regularly, you might have noticed the couple of times in the last few months we have posted brand new songs from this Swedish metal band.

Soilwork has put together an impressive career spanning now nine full-length albums since 1995.  Over the years, the band's style has morphed and changed but this is still one of the most consistent Swedish metal bands of the era (meaning late 1980s-1990s Swedish melodeath).  Though the band has adapted styles a little bit by incorporating further and more varied use of clean-sung vocals, Soilwork is still very much an extreme metal band.

"The Living Infinite," released today, most certainly carries the mark of a Soilwork album.  The band's previous albums, "Sworn to a Great Divide" and "The Panic Broadcast" were seen as slight letdowns for hardcore Soilwork fans.  Instead of offering a 'return to form' Soilwork include bits of style spanning their entire discography.  Bjorn "Speed" Strid's vocals are much improved this time around, showing better range with both clean singing and extreme vocals. 

As on "The Panic Broadcast," the metallic riffs are fast, thick, and smooth. Soilwork's drumming has never been tighter, and many of the tracks here scorch us with blistering leads and solos, which have been largely missing over the last few albums.

With "The Living Infinite," Soilwork doesn't break any new ground, but they don't have to.  By now their sound is well-established and their practice well-polished.  With that being said, there are no mind-blowing moments.  The album is content with what it does and does it well. 

Not much more can be said of this album.  It is as good an album as Soilwork has ever released.  It doesn't break any new ground.  Instead, the consistency on display is notable.  If you are in the mood for some torrential extreme metal with memorable melodies (ah, alliteration attack), you need to check this album out.  One thing to note is that this is a double album.  The CD version contains two discs and 20 tracks.  Feast on a few of the released tracks below.  As always, thanks for reading and ejoy!

New tracks from Life Model, Spc-Eco, and Soilwork

If you didn't get enough new music from us the other day, you're in luck because we have three new awesome songs for you to feast on today.

Life Model-Take it Slowly.
This is the kind of shoegazing music that takes on an artistic approach to stripped-down rock tunes and stretching the notes through looping effects on the guitars.  Life Model adds understated, chilly vocals to the mix, which takes on an unrefined, yet abstract appeal.  This is an interesting take on shoegaze, being light on the electronic atmospherics and heavy on the pedal effects, just like old-school shoegaze rock.


Spc-Eco-Push.
You know I have been a fan of Spc-Eco (pronounced 'space echo') since i stumbled upon their album "3-D"  This English band has been particularly active of late, having released a full-length album and two EPs just within the last year.  The latest EP, now available through Spc-Eco's bandcamp page, is entitled "Push" and includes five tracks, two of which are remixes of the original Push. Some bands just have that 'it' factor in that no matter how much their style changes, they continue to push out fantastic music.  As it turns out, Push is a departure from the usual Spc-Eco electrogaze music, trending more to the mainstream-ish dream pop end of the spectrum.  To be honest, I didn't know what to think when i first read that it was more pop-oriented than their previous music.  Yet, I listened to it anyway, because I am a fan of Spc-Eco, and fans of bands listen to the band's music no matter what, right? 


Soilwork-This Momentary Bliss
Soilwork is gearing up to release their brand new album, "The Living Infinite" in March.  They have just shared another new track from the double album.  This track is metal excellence.  While the first new song they gave us sounded like "Figure Number 5" era Soilwork, This Momentary Bliss is more akin to the tunes heard on "Stabbing the Drama".  This song is an instantly-catchy gem that has a sing-along style chorus.  Bjorn "Speed" Strid's vocals are top-notch on this one, containing some screamed sections, but mostly outstanding cleans.  Also apparent in this track is a low-register, doomy keyboard line and some awesome guitar solo dexterity.  If you are into metal music, they you can't go wrong with Soilwork.  As always, thanks for reading and enjoy!

More new music: Soilwork and Honeyslide

New music two days in a row?  The interweb has suddenly become a busy place for new music.  Today we have two more excellent items we are excited about. 

First Soilwork is streaming a new track from their upcoming double album "The Living Infinite".  This track sounds like classic Soilwork, combining massive chugging riffs, complex drum patterns, including blast beats, and Bjorn 'Speed' Strid's powerful dual vocals.  This is a really heavy track.  It shows a lot of promise for this band.  Soilwork formed in the mid-1990s and has released nine studio albums including "The Living Infinite".  Their sound began to change and adapt with the release of "Stabbing the Drama" and more so on "Sworn to a Great Divide".  Their latest album, "The Panic Broadcast", was billed as a return to form and was their best album in years.  From what I've heard so far, the new record will be even better than the last.  I'm a fan of Soilwork, so I'll be checking this out when it is released.  Strid's switches back and forth from impressive clean vocals to snarling higher-register screams that are typical of the melodeath genre.  Check out the following track and then get yourself a neck brace to wear for the next two days.



I have been listening to Honeyslide's latest EP for the last fifteen minutes and have not been particularly impressed.  This record sounds like average old-school shoegaze choked with fuzzy guitar reverb.  However, this band just released a brand new single at soundcloud, and  it is anything but average.  Instead it is very different than their EP.  The new track is more harmonious, the reverb is cleaner and better-executed, and the track is soaked with sensational electronic ambiance.  This is worlds better than their EP.  When and if this British group releases a new album, one can hope that the entire disc is a reflection of the new track rather than the EP.  Listen to the new track below and you can see what I mean.  Thanks for reading and enjoy!